Quick Facts
Biography
Oleksandr Mykolayovych Hladkyy (Ukrainian: Олександр Миколайович Гладкий, born 24 August 1987 in Lozova, Kharkiv Oblast) is a Ukrainian football forward who currently plays for Karpaty Lviv on loan from Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukraine national football team. His last name can also be transliterated as Hladkiy, Gladkiy and Gladkyy.
Club career
Kharkiv
Oleksandr Hladkyy started his career in Metalist Kharkiv football academy, and soon after, the young player was invited to another professional club from the city, FC Kharkiv. Under direction of coach Volodymyr Bessonov, Hladkyy became a regular player for the club and soon established himself as one of the best strikers in the league. Oleksandr's first fame came in season of 2006–07, when after scoring 13 goals, Hladkyy became the Ukrainian league's top scorer.
Shakhtar Donetsk
After this success, Oleksandr Hladkyy was noticed by one of Ukrainian leaders FC Shakhtar Donetsk and on 8 June 2007, he signed a 5-year deal worth €2.5 million with the club. On his debut for the club (friendly match), he scored the winning goal. Not long after, he scored two goals in a friendly.
On 7 May 2008 Hladkyy got his first piece of silverware in his career when his Shakhtar beat Dynamo Kyiv 2–0, in the Ukrainian Cup Final where he scored and was also sent off.
He won the premiership with Shakhtar that season but fell 1 goal short of breaking Ukrainian Premier League history by being the top goal scorer two consecutive years. With the addition of Yevhen Seleznyov and Marcelo Moreno, Hladkyy has had difficulty to regain his spot in the starting line-up or even the bench leaving his future in doubt especially with the coach Mircea Lucescu using a 4-5-1 (meaning only one forward) over last years 4-4-2 . After 10 league games with only 1 win Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu gave Hladkyy the start and he scored in the 28th minute in a 3–0 win over Chornomorets Odessa. Mircea gave Hladkyy another starting opportunity due to Luiz Adriano being injured, and Oleksandr scored the 3rd goal in Shakhtars 4–2 win over FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih. Hladkyy scored a winner for Shakhtar against Olexandria in the 93rd minute in an Ukrainian Cup quarter final, although this pro comes with a con as he injured second choice goalkeeper Rustam Khudzhamov during a collision in the Shakhtar penalty area. He scored his first two UEFA Champions League goals in a historic 3–2 win in Spain beating giants F.C. Barcelona (whom were on a streak of 20 games without defeat.) This was also big for Shakhtar as Shakhtar collected more points in the group stage than ever before (9).
After not gaining a regular place in Shakhtar Donetsk he transferred to Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on 17 August 2010.
Shakhtar Donetsk Return
In May 2014, Hladkyy resigned for FC Shakhtar Donetsk, signing a two-year contract.
Dynamo Kyiv
On 23 May 2016, Hladkyy signed a 3-year contract with the Ukrainian champions Dynamo Kyiv, signing as a free agent after his contract with Shakhtar Donetsk has ended.
International career
Oleksandr Hladkyy was a regular member of the Ukraine national under-21 football team and scored 6 goals in 12 games. On 22 August 2007, he made his debut for the senior Ukraine national football team in a friendly against Uzbekistan and scored the opening goal. Since then, he has been called up to the main squad for every game under both Oleg Blokhin, and now, Oleksiy Mykhailychenko.
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Super Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Metalist | 2003–04 | 8 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | 3 |
| 2004–05 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 11 | 1 | |
| Total | 17 | 4 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 19 | 4 | |
| Kharkiv | 2004–05 | 10 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 4 |
| 2005–06 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 27 | 2 | |
| 2006–07 | 29 | 13 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 30 | 13 | |
| Total | 64 | 18 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 67 | 19 | |
| Shakhtar | 2007–08 | 29 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 46 | 21 |
| 2008–09 | 26 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 7 | |
| 2009–10 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | - | - | 30 | 8 | |
| 2010–11 | 5 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | |
| Total | 82 | 27 | 14 | 3 | 25 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 124 | 38 | |
| Dnipro | 2010–11 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 25 | 4 |
| 2011–12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 23 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 31 | 4 | |
| Karpaty | 2011–12 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 10 | 4 |
| 2012–13 | 23 | 5 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 26 | 5 | |
| 2013–14 | 28 | 10 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 30 | 10 | |
| Total | 59 | 18 | 7 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 66 | 19 | |
| Shakhtar | 2014–15 | 19 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 16 |
| 2015–16 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 9 | |
| Total | 36 | 15 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 61 | 25 | |
| Dynamo Kyiv | 2016–17 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Total | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| Karpaty | 2016–17 | 6 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | 3 |
| Total | 6 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | 3 | |
| Career total | 295 | 87 | 42 | 13 | 43 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 385 | 112 | |
International
| Ukraine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 2007 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2008 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 11 | 1 | |
International goals
| No | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 22 August 2007 | Valeriy Lobanovskyi Dynamo Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine |  Uzbekistan | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
Honours
- Ukrainian Premier League (2): 2007–08, 2009–10
- Ukrainian Cup (2): 2007–08, 2015–16
- Ukrainian Super Cup (4): 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015
- UEFA Cup: 2008–09
- Ukrainian Super Cup: 2016
- Ukrainian Premier league Top Goalscorer (13 goals): 2007
- Ukrainian Premier League Top Assister (11 assists): 2008
